Comparing Universal Themes

These two stories are both very similar in a few ways. In both stories the main characters changes in their personalities. Luis and the boy in “The bass, the River, and Sheila Mant”, get changes by a girl, and they start to realize things at the end weren’t how they were supposed to be, and things didn’t fall in place. They are short stories with similar ideas and themes. Although the characters and plots differ, the central themes are very similar. In “Catch the Moon”, the love of the main characters mother continues to strengthen him even after her death. In “The Bass, the River, and Sheila Mant”, the narrators love for fishing continues to give him strength after he loses the girl he thought he loved. In both short stories, love gives the main character strength. In “The Bass, the River, and Sheila Mant” the main characters are the boy and Sheila. The main conflict is that the boy likes Sheila but she hates fishing and he had to choose between both. He had thrown away the fish because he didn’t want Sheila to see it. Later, he regretted it. The resolution was that Sheila left him anyway, when he was trying so hard to impress her. The main character changes by feeling regret, and dumb for letting go the biggest fish he had caught over a girl who didn’t like him and didn’t like him for who he is and judge him that fishing is stupid. You shouldn’t have to hide who you really are even if someone else doesn’t like it because they should accept you for who you are. The main character of “Catch the Moon” is a boy named Luis is dealing with the loss of his mother. He went to jail for breaking into a house, and he owed free labor to his father who worked in a car junk yard. He meets a girl, who’s family owns the funeral service that helped with his mother’s funeral. She is missing a hubcap for her car and Luis makes it his duty to find it. While looking for it he starts to...

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...Make a Copy Common themes
All of life is connected
Each life, no matter how small, matters
LIfe is too brief
Youth (innoncence) and beauty do not last
We don’t appreciate what we have until it is gone
Pride can blind us to the truth
Small acts of kindness and/or generosity can have a tremendous effect
Courage can reward those who push themselves
Sometimes we learn too late what we need to know
Social status, beauty, wealth, etc. do not matter
We learn through trial, hardship, or pain those lessons most valuable
The individual is sometimes in conflict with society
Individuals are often alienated and alone
Self­determination is a fierce inner force, but is often thwarted or delayed by outside forces
Fantasy is sometimes more real than everyday reality
Mortality is inevitable
Human beings are sometimes too weak or too blind to do what is right
We often want what others have or we often want what we cannot have
Fear, jealousy, and greed are destructive emotions
People of all cultures and of all times are more alike than they are different
Nature does not care about people
Each of us is alone, often feeling small or frightened in the world
Evil exists in the heart of men (and women)
Power can be a compelling force
Activity One: Now write a universaltheme statement for these thematic questions
What is truth?
What is beauty?
What is real?
What is justice?
What is honor?
What is love? ...

...“Catch the Moon). “ There was a summer in my life when the only creature that seemed lovelier to me than a largemouth bass was Shelia Mant” (pg. 245 in “The Bass, The River, and Shelia Mant”). In these two short stories, the themes are alike in how both are teen boys whose lives are changed by a female character.
In “Catch the Moon” by Judith Ortiz Cofer, the main character, Luis is a troubled young man. “Luis has been getting into trouble since he started two years ago mainly because of the ‘social group’ he organized - a bunch of guys who were into harassing the local authorities” (pg 235). Working for his father as part of his punishment from juvenile hall, Luis had to look for a hubcap for Naomi’s car. At first, he did not want to do it. Later that night, he went to his mother grave and saw Naomi there and they talked for a while. He had a change of heart so he went to go look for the hubcap that same night which took him hours to find. “ Finally, when it seemed that it was a hopeless search, when it was almost midnight and Luis’s hands were cut and bruised from his work, he found it” (pg. 239). He then went to Naomi’s house and showed her the hubcap. This made him feel happy because it was the first good thing he had given someone in a long time. The theme in this story is about how someone could change your life in a positive way. He was negative in everything at first but ended up feeling better than he had felt in a couple years.
In...

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Hamlet is a famous Shakespearean play and also boasts major popularity as an English literature text. The text was written early in the 17th century (being performed in 1603) and its ability to last the test of time is solely due to the universalthemes that Shakespeare has infused it with. These universalthemes include repentance, revenge and madness or more precisely feigned madness. In this essay context, techniques, critical analysis and these key universalthemes will be described so that the timelessness of Hamlet can be recognised and understood.
The play Hamlet is a revenge tragedy that was written during the Elizabethan era where Christianity was cemented in the people’s culture. A revenge tragedy depicts the journey of a central figure as they seek vengeance; a fatal flaw often complicates their journey towards vengeance and becomes the cause of the characters’ end, usually occurring shortly after the character completes the act of revenge. The character of Hamlet links to the context of the time as at the time, the uprising of the Renaissance Humanist movement was occurring and Shakespeare uses this as he portrays Hamlets character as an intelligent humanist.
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...UniversalTheme
What is universaltheme? Universaltheme is a message about life that can be portrayed by a majority of cultures across the world. Some exemplars can be revenge, sorrow, and brotherhood. The short story “Civil Peace,” the poem “Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night,” and a rap made famous by the rapper Tupac Shakur entitled “Me Against the World” all share a prevalent universaltheme. The theme to these influencing pieces of writing is “Never Give Up.”
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“Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night” is poem written by a young poet named Dylan Thomas. Portrayed in the poem is that Dylan himself talks about how his father is dying and that he is fighting to stay alive with his entire valor. In the poem he says “Rage, rage, into the dying of the light” meaning his father is fighting with everything...

...Can you ever imagine a science fictional story being related to a free verse poem? I definitely can't. But sure enough, in the science fiction book The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury, there is a story called "There Will Come Soft Rains". This story relates in theme to a free verse poem by Carl Sandburg named "Four Preludes on Playthings of the Wind". The common question is: "How in the world do these 2 pieces of work relate in theme? Shockingly, however, there are many points where theme is related and compared.
In the science fictional story "There Will Come Soft Rains" by Ray Bradbury, Ray describes a house that "[stands] alone in a city of rubble and ashes" (167). It used to be a magnificent city but now, "the ruined city [gives] off a radioactive glow which [could] be seen for miles" (167). The date is August 4, 2026 and the city is Allendale, California. The only living thing in sight is a poor, hungry dog that eventually dies. In the house, mechanical mice, voice-clocks, and about ten thousand more electronic attendants live. Outside of the house, there is a west wall that's totally burned but still standing. Charcoal covers the whole surface except for 5 places. In these 5 places, a silhouette is shown at each location: "a man mowing a lawn, a woman [bending] to pick flowers, a small boy [throwing a ball], a girl [catching a ball], and the ball [itself]" (167). It's plainly seen and understood that these...

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“What sculpture is to a block of marble, education is to the human soul -Joseph Addison” Every person is challenged in the race of life. Many have succeeded and finished the race, but what really is at the end of every obstacle course? Just as clothing is a person’s first impression, so as college degree is to a person’s success. In the world we live in, it is inevitable that college education degree is the basis of survival, assurance and success. Let’s say for instance, would you send your child to school if the teachers have no learning about the subject? Would you send your ill grandmother to a hospital with uncertified doctors who are not confident with the prescriptions and diagnosis they are giving? Would you entrust the financial stability of your company to an accountant who has not attained his college degree? Well, most of you would not. That piece of paper, that degree will hone you who will you be in the next ten years, in the next twenty years, in the remaining years of your lifetime. That piece of paper will guarantee one’s success. College degree is an important role in the success of a person. However come to think of it, what really is success? Success is defined by an individual. Success can be defined as the financial stability of a person, his happiness, or perhaps self- fulfillment. In whatever case it may be defined, attaining college degree serves as a milestone to success. Although people who did not...

...Death of a Salesman: UniversalThemes
“Death of a Salesman,” by Arthur Millier addresses many of literary fiction’s universalthemes. In general two themes can be constantly seen throughout the play, abandonment and betrayal. Willy Loman, a man set on reaching the American dream, lives in a state of delusion and altered perception on what really matters. The play itself switches from flashbacks to other flashbacks to let the reader understand how and why Willy Loman decides to commit suicide.
To initiate, a central theme focused was abandonment. The beginning of this abandonment issue is seen in Willy’s father, a man who had left him with very little at a young age, and his brother who decided to head towards Alaska. Willy in turn believed the American dream would take him out of a mediocre life. Eventually this hope becomes into an altered reality for Willy, failing to see his reality as a failure. Important to note, Willy’s past and determination to achieve the American dream could be seen as of way to coping with his abandonment issues. Willy enforces his desire to obtain a perfect life by raising his sons in a model way. Biff, one of his sons, is popular in school and varsity player for his football team. Willy, facing this abandonment issue also commits adultery. This ultimately causes Biff to question his father’s ambitions and confront him at the Chop House. It is there where...

...Sophocles, the great Greek tragedian wrote the tragedy Antigone. In the play he uses universalthemes, themes the audience knows and can relate to. These universalthemes, loyalty to family, to state and to the God's cause the conflict resulting in tragedy.
The audience witnesses loyalty to family, through the strong emotions of the characters. Most of the characters in Antigone are blood related. Antigone deeply loves her brother and can't bear the thought of him not having a proper burial. She knows that burying him is strictly against Creon's orders, and is well aware of the consequences. Not able to live with her brother not getting a proper burial, and knowing the gods were on her side, she buries him. Haemon shows loyalty towards his father when Creon punishes his fiancé for giving her brother the proper burial rights. Heamon disagrees with his father, but does not strongly contest with his authority, even though he knows that his dad is killing his love. Also, another example of loyalty toward family is when Eurydice kills herself when she finds her son has killed himself. She really loved her son and decided she couldn't live any longer without her son. As a result of loyalty to family, Antigone and Haemon die, Ismene loses her sister, and Creon loses his wife and son.
Loyalty to state, is another key universaltheme in greek tragedy. Ismene shows her loyalty to...